‘She used his name’: provider trait mindfulness in perinatal death counselling

Millions of babies die of stillbirth every year around the world, yet there is a dearth of research on the helping behaviours of counsellors working with grieving families. Mindfulness-based interventions have been increasingly used, and researched, in vulnerable populations. While many studies have empirically focused on mindfulness as an intervention, very few studies have examined trait mindfulness in providers and its relationship to perceptions of helping. This study is an open-ended inquiry to explore trait, or dispositional, mindfulness in counsellors/therapists as perceived by bereaved parents in the aftermath of perinatal death. Descriptive data are reported, and a thematic analysis that identified and coded recurring and unifying statements was performed on the qualitative response (n = 94). Findings suggest that trait mindfulness in counsellors/therapists is perceived as helpful and inverse findings were also discovered.